Breaking Point
by Bekkoni
Summary: Underlying tensions in the League threaten to tear it at the seams, pitting member against member, with Batman and Superman leading the conflict. Something of a sequel to Olympus, though it's really a stand alone story. Sorry, I suck at summaries.
1. Turning Point

"I don't understand why you're upset with me," Superman said. He and Batman were having a "discussion" while the other five obliviously went on with the meeting.

"I am not upset with you."

"Yes, you are. Whenever you're mad you stop using contractions and start restating everything."

"Oh, so reading body language is one of your superpowers, now, too?" Batman couldn't resist. Maybe he could figure it out.

"This started after I saved that cat."

Batman glared.

"All I did was fly up and grab it," Superman said. "What could possibly be wrong with that?"

Batman's glare turned into the infamous Bat-Glare.

"Seriously. What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing," Batman said. "You did everything. Exactly. Perfect."

Superman sighed. "I guess I'll learn eventually, huh? Either that or you'll get over it."

Batman shook his head.

His, Flash's, and Clark's comlinks activated suddenly. "Flash, Batman, and Superman , report to the teleporter pad for transport to St. Louis, USA. Reports of city-wide fires."

They jumped out of their seats and headed to the lower level of the watchtower.

*****

Batman grabbed a little girl and pulled her from the closet where she had been hiding. The flaes rose up, white hot and blocking every path. He pulled his cape around them and burst through the searing heat to the door of the apartment.

The little girl cried silently.

He ran to the stairs and jumped them three at a time. Flash appeared next to him.

"Take her," Batman said, thrusting the girl into Clark's arms. "My suit is fire-retardant. All she's wearing is a cotton jumper."

"What about y--"

"I'll be fine. Go!" Flash vanished. Batman ran down another flight of stairs.

The third landing disintegrated beneath his feet. He pulled out a grappling hook and shot it toward a wooden beam above. The beam cracked in two. Batman hit the ground hard, landing on his ankle, which bent under him.

Hell was raining down around his face, but between the heat and the buzzing in his head, he couldn't move.

Something wet trickled down the side of his head. It pooled in a little puddle by his eye. Blood.

He was lying in a bed of ash on the bottom level of a building that was about to come down, and he couldn't bring himself to care very much. He didn't even mind that his ankle might be broken or that he was bleeding from the head.

Someone swooped down and carried him out of the inferno.

****

"You know he isn't invulnerable, Flash!" Superman shouted.

"He told me to get that girl out!"

Batman shook his head slightly to clear the fog and moved his foot a little. So the ankle wasn't broken, just sprained.

_Lucky idiot. _ He gingerly got to his feet.

"Well he doesn't always know what's best for him!"

"You both can unknot your panties, I'm fine," Batman got his voice to a satisfyingly gravelly growl.

Superman gave him a Look. "No you're not. You screwed up that ankle, I can see the torn muscles. And you have a concussion. Sit back down."

Batman pressed the button on his belt that summoned the Bat-plane. It swooped down silently. "Alfred can patch me up, now that the fire's out. I have patrol in an hour."

"That's not wise, Bruce."

Batman shot a grappling hook upward and vanished into the bowels of his plane.

*******

TWO DAYS LATER

In a private conference room aboard the Watchtower.

"Are we all sure of this?" Diana asked, spreading the paper with six signatures on it out on the table.

The five others nodded.

"He's going to kill us," Flash said. "You realize that, right? Even if he knows it's for his own good."

"It's not like we're singling him out," Green Lantern said. "This helps insure the safety of _all_ costumed heroes."

Shayera picked up the document and read through it again. "So we have it all listed out, right? No one can contest us on this?"

"No," J'onn said. "We do have the power to change JLA policies. It states so in the handbook."

"Enough is enough. He—none of them—can keep this up. Let's go show it to him," Superman said, with a tinge of foreboding in his voice.

*******

Batman, Clark was pleased to see, had his injured ankle propped up on another chair while he was working in the Batcave. It wasn't in a brace, but this was a step in the right direction.

"Alfred let us in," He said, trying to be calm. "We need to talk to you. It's important."

"I'm working. My city is probably more important than whatever it is you have."

"This is pretty important, Bruce."

Batman glanced over his shoulder and saw the other six founding members standing behind him. He put down the file he was working on. "It had better be."

Diana silently handed him a Justice League memo. He read through it, looking up every so often. After he was done, he put it gently down on the table.

The others waited.

"You're kidding," Bruce said. He watched their faces carefully. "No, you're not kidding, you're nuts. You're _insane._"

Superman swallowed. "Bruce…"

Batman gave them the coldest glare any of them had ever been on the receiving end of. "Get the hell out of my house."


	2. Freezing Point

_**JLA Official Correspondence**_

**As of Tuesday, September 17, all members who are either unpowered or whose powers rely on the use of artificial means shall be switched to Limited Reserve Status and be utilized only in times of a level Omega crisis. **

**This does not apply to members whose artificial powers are cosmic, futuristic (technology at least 100 yrs more advanced than Earth's), magical, or other-dimensional in origin. Also, any devices that change a members physical attributes (height, weight, etc.) will be considered a power, as well as any devices that produce a forcefield able to repel buckshot fired at 200 mph. Also, full-body armor is acceptable.**

**Super-weaknesses like only being able to see in darkness will not be considered powers.**

**All members whose status is affected by this policy change are required to attend a meeting on September 16th to exchange their comlinks for Reserve ones and turn in their codecards.**

**Thank you for your cooperation.**

**Founding Members:**

_Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, J'onn J'onzz, Wonder Woman_, and _Shayera Hol_

*********

"I told you to get out," Batman was being surprisingly calm.

"We decided to collect your com and codecard in person," Superman said.

"I still have the ring, Kal-el. It's right in that vault."

"You won't use kryptonite on me."

"We humans are prone to burst of emotion," Batman sneered.

"I meant that I'd stop you before you got there, if I had to."

"Because you're so powerful," Batman snatched the comlink from his ear, and the codecard that granted access to the watchtower from his belt.

"Thank you, Bruce," Diana held out her hand for the devices.

Batman smashed them under the heel of one black boot.

Superman glanced down and melted the remains into a puddle of burnt metal. "That works too."

"Get. Out," Bruce said. "Get out now. I don't ever want to see your faces again."

Diana looked sad, but she followed the others, then paused. She tossed a temporary coded card to him. "If you want to come to the meeting…"

He didn't turn around. They let themselves out.

**********************

September 17, 4:00 PM --

The anger that permeated the room was giving J'onn a headache.

"Please form an orderly line to turn in your comlinks," Superman was trying to shout over the din.

Green Arrow got up on top of a table. "You kidnapped me and forced me to join your little club. Now your kicking me out because I'm not a meta? Am I missing something?"

A cheer went up. More people started yelling.

"Please!" Diana, ever the diplomat, "We are not trying to be discriminatory."

"Wow," Blue Beetle said. "So this is just an accident?"

"That's not what I…" the noise drowned her out.

The crowd was becoming a mob. GL tried to say something, but not even Flash, who stood two fee t away, could hear him over the din.

Someone from the back of the room gave an ear-piercing whistle. Everyone feel silent.

Batman stood alone by the door. "No, let them talk."

"They kicked you out too," Wildcat said. "And you're on their side?"

"Did you see my signature on that memo?" Batman asked. I just want to hear them dig their own graves. And then I want to shovel the dirt on top of them. Unfortunately, that won't happen here."

"So…?" Green arrow said.

Batman just gave an evil smile. "Do as they say."

Everyone stared for a minute. Then Vigilante, who was standing closest to batman, smirked ever so slightly, walked to the front of the room, and handed in his badge and codecard.

One by one, the others did the same thing, and then filed out without speaking.

"Don't bother to thank me," Batman said, leaving last. He took a small amount of pleasure from the fact that Superman looked a tad ashamed.

****************

They agreed to gather in a an abandoned Gotham warehouse an hour after the meeting.

"Can't believe this," Blue Beetle said. "Booster's allowed to stay, but those high and mighty pains-in-the-ass won't let me?"

"They kicked Bats out," Vigilante replied in a hushed whisper. "And he and Superman are supposedly pretty close."

"Well, he's the one who called us here, so he'd better show up soon," Green Arrow paced back and forth.

"I'm here," they all stopped cold.

Batman perched on top of a pile of boxes.

"Care to tell us why?" Huntress asked.

"I'm not going to pretend this is about revenge," Batman said. "Both them and us are working toward the same goal, and I won't sabotage their efforts so long as they're doing good. It is, however, about knocking certain metas off their sky-high horses."

Gangbuster cheered. Batman silenced him with a look.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Green Arrow asked.

"The anti-JLA," Batman was working very hard to keep the evil-genius grin off his face.


	3. Boiling Point

**Note: all the heroes in the anti-JLA are real DC characters; most of them are just from the comics. Black Moon and Sunburst are mine, though, I created them because I thought the ranks were pretty bare, even for an underdog team.**

*****************************

Anti-Justice League Roll Call:

Batman

Green Arrow

The Question

Huntress

Blue Beetle

Arshai

Doctor Mid-Nite II

Wildcat

Catwoman

Gangbuster

The Guardian

Vigilante

"We should be called the Human Company," Blue Beetle said, looking over Green Arrow's shoulder as the archer typed.

"You got that from an energy commercial," Huntress said.

"No! That was the Human _Element_."

"Right-o."

Catwoman sidled up to Batman, who was working on another computer. "Kinda short on soldiers, aren't we? There's an archer, three martial artists, two detectives, a couple inventors, a whole posse of ex-cops turned costumes, some shooters, and I don't even know what that Japanese girl does."

"Arshai is a gifted computer expert as well as a whiz with technology."

"So she invents neat toys."

"Yes."

Catwoman walked away again. She hadn't been part of the JLA, but at when Batman had asked her to join his new team, well, who could refuse granting him a favor? Favors meant you got something in return.

She looked around the new clubhouse. It was the same warehouse they'd first met in, only now various pieces of high-tech were scattered around and several computers had been set-up.

Batman had hacked into the JLA comlinks and now they all could hear what the regular members heard. It had been two weeks, and still they hadn't actually fought. Batman said it was strategy. Selina wanted a fight.

"I've got something," Batman said suddenly. "Green Arrow, Wildcat, Catwoman, you're with me. Huntress, you and the Question go to Montreal. Giant spiders."

"Aye, aye," Huntress powered up one of the transporters and she and Question vanished.

Batman led the others on. The warehouse faded and in its place a city appeared.

"One more question."

"What?" he asked.

"Don't you have to, like, pay for the Watchtower?"

Batman sighed. "No. The fusion reactor in the core is free energy, and the salary for the workers is paid by member dues and a twin reactor providing power to California. We've actually been turning a small profit."

The actual mission did not take that long. Selina had the sneaking suspicion that Bruce had started them out easy. What were a couple of escaped experimental fire demons? Not Justice League quality.

Batman was just extinguishing the last creature when something landed behind him. He turned and came face to face with a big red S-symbol.

"Hello, Bruce."

_*******_

**I'm so sorry about the (extremely long) delay, but I promise that the next chapter will be up soon and will contain a juicy, fan-girl's dream confrontation between Batman and Superman :)) **


	4. Shatter Point

The media were pulling up in their vans. Day was breaking over the city skyline. In short, it was not a good time for Batman to have an argument with Superman out in the open.

"Hello, Bruce," Superman said. "What, may I ask, are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?"

"It looks like you're doing my job."

That did it.

"YOUR job?" Batman yelled. "Who in the hell died and made you dictator? I've been in this just as long as you have. "

A reporter got out of her truck. Batman melted further into the shadows. "In case you can't tell, I just took down two of "your" problems, and I did it more efficiently than you probably could have."

Superman glanced at the other two non-powered heroes watching the scene unfold from another rooftop. "Is that what this is? A non-meta team?"

"It should be obvious."

"So this is what you do?" Superman said. "Try to best your friends?"

"Friends?" Batman asked. "How in the world are you—or any of you up there—my friend? You kicked me _out_."

"Bruce," Superman shook his head. "We're trying to protect you. That day, when you nearly got killed in that fire…for all the good you do, sometimes I wish you'd stop. All those times we go up against interplanetary madmen and people who are practically gods…" he trailed off.

"And do you know what that's like?" he continued. "All the time I keep hoping you—none of you—will get hurt and it's too much."

Batman muttered something under his breath.

"What?" Superman asked.

"I'm not good enough for your little clubhouse, that's what this is. I'm too human, I'm too insignificant."

Superman's face softened a little. "Bruce, we didn't mean to make you feel…"

"Oh, don't give me that look," Batman snapped. "I know you too well. You'll try to say something sweet and nice and be a damn boy scout, always avoiding arguments. Like hell you didn't mean to make me feel like…"

Batman cut off. He was revealing too much.

"Like what?"

Batman grit his teeth. "Like Luthor was right when he said I'm a traitor in your Olympus."

"That's not true."

"Oh, no?" Batman's voice rose a little. "Then why am I down here, while you're up there? You haven't given a very good reason. 'Protecting' me? When I go up against a Jokerized army of wolves in Gotham, that's not dangerous? And without the Justice League, the only back-up I have is in Bludhaven."

Superman started to say something, but Batman cut him off.

"And what about you?" he snapped. "How many times have I saved your life?"

"And mostly gotten hurt in the process."

"So you'd rather die than have me snap a wrist?"

Superman glared at him. "Look, Bruce, if you don't understand, fine, I'm sorry for that. But this is for your own good. You'll appreciate it someday."

"How many times have I said that to you?"

"Mostly you've been right," Superman said as he vanished in a transporter beam. "And now I am."


	5. key point

**A/N: Sorry this chapter took so dang long! I wasn't really sure where it was going, but I've got it figured out now.**

With one elegant sweep of her mace, Shayera smashed the left monitor's control panel.

"The point is. To. Fix. It." GL snapped. "Not to decimate it."

"This way we can just get a new one and be done with it," she glared at him. Scattered around the room were various blueprints, tools, and empty water bottles.

"How did we ever fix these computers before?" John asked tiredly. They had been at it almost three hours.

"Bruce would do it."

"Of course."

Superman came in, grumbling. He tripped over a circuit panel. "What the heck?! Haven't you finished yet?"

"No," John said. "It's Batman's design, and how often do you think he let anyone else go inside these things?"

"Never, of course," Superman sat down awkwardly on one of the open metal frames. "And its not like he would come back up here for an hour just to repair it."

"Who would dare even ask him to?"

"We have a problem," Flash said, materializing in the doorway.

"Tell me about it," John replied. "We can't see all of Eurasia."

Flash gingerly stepped forward and examined the smoking hole Shayera's mace had left. "Ohh…is this the reason the shuttles and transporters aren't working?"

Shayera and Superman looked up sharply. "What did you say?!"

"The transporters and shuttles aren't—"

But they were already out the door.

************************************************

The main room. That was where trouble would focus. Superman ran to the stem—the vertical hall the ran the height of the Tower so you could fly up to any level. He jumped up…

…and fell right back down. Behind him, Green Lantern was trying to get his ring to work. Shayera's wings wouldn't unfold. Flash was running, but he couldn't go faster than a normal human.

Every television screen in the Watchtower, including the monitor rooms, went static. Then they slowly focused into a face. No, faces. Two.

The Ultra-Humanite and Gorilla Grodd.

"Hello, Justice League," The Humanite began, in his customary, disturbingly polite voice. "You are experiencing a lack of powers. This is because of my new invention that nullifies any gene or variation not found in a standard human."

Grodd grinned, showing both rows of teeth. "Which makes it very easy for us to destroy you."

"Now," the Ultra Humanite resumed control. "Please be so kind as to find your way to cafeteria. And do not try to contact anyone—all functions of your headquarters are now under our control."


	6. Vantage Point

Bruce woke up, and knew something was wrong.

It had less to do intuition, and more to do with what was on the TV screen at the other end of his room. In Metropolis, Luthor had gone on a crime spree, robbing banks all across the city. But Superman wasn't stopping him.

He changed the channel.

In Keystone City, Captain Cold and Captain Boomerang had teamed up and were wreaking havoc by icing up train rails and destroying buildings. Flash, however, was nowhere to be found.

It was the same in the hometowns of most of the heroes.

Bruce contacted the rest of his makeshift league.

"There's a situation."

*****************************************

Back on the Watchtower, the Leaguers had been herded into the cafeteria. Grodd and The Ultra-Humanite were standing atop one of the tables, shouting orders to a group of mind-controlled gorillas. Thanks to Flash frying his brain, his mind control only worked on gorillas now.

The gorilla gang went around handcuffing the heroes. Wonder Woman was slightly disturbed at how easily some of her comrades submitted with out their powers. She would not be that quickly defeated. Even without the abilities her armor afforded her, she was still a warrior.

Diana leapt at Grodd. He turned, and pulled something from his fur. A weapon. She didn't she him shoot, but she felt it.

After that, none of the others fought back.

*****************************************

Batman dispatched members to each of the cities struck by a crime wave in the wake of the loss of their protector. The rest, he brought to the batplane and told to get in.

"Will that fit the seven of us?" Green Arrow asked. "Can it even fly in space?"

Batman glared at him. "Superman doesn't know about all my modifications."

Green Arrow sighed and climbed in, followed by Wildcat, Gangbuster, Huntress, Nightwing, The Question, and Batman himself.

Nightwing reached for the controls. Batman cut him off with a look.

"I know how to fly it," Dick said.

Bruce took the wheel anyway, and within twenty minutes, they were hovering outside the Watchtower docking bay. A blue forcefield crackled away, protecting the opening.

Batman opened a hatch in the back of the batplane and handed everyone a gray suit with a faceplate.

"Put these on," he said, suiting up himself, "And take one of these." He handed each a black cartridge. "Just point and shoot, and it will bring you inside the docking bay."

They all put on the suits, and Batman opened the hatch. He went first, grappling to the wall of the Watchtower and deactivating the forcefield.

"Superman should watch you more closely," Nightwing said through the suits' intercom. Batman gave him a look.

Soon, they were all inside the docking bay.

"Grodd is in there definitely," Batman said, "With either the Ultra-Humanite or Shade, but most likely the former. He probably has a group of gorillas with him, but don't hurt them—they're being mind controlled."

The group nodded, and went to the door of the docking bay.

Batman tried his old code in the security pad, but it was denied. He pried the panel off the wall and switched around some wires, and cut a few more. The light blinked green, and the door slid open.

All was deathly silent, save for a faint buzzing.

"Do you hear that?" Batman asked. The others nodded. "That's the machine that is sapping the Leaguers powers. The main device will be located in the central shaft, where the power supply is."

He handed Green arrow a map of the Watchtower. "You, Question and Nightwing are taking care of that. The rest of you are with me."

****************************************************

In the cafeteria, the heroes had been shackled in a long chain, and every fifth or so was locked to the wall.

Grodd and The Ultra-Humanite were still seated at the center table, eating the food from the kitchen and making comments about how bad it was.

"This shall be lucrative," The Humanite said.

"How much is Luthor paying to keep them up here?" Grodd ate a bunch of bananas with his feet.

"Three million. And that's just him."

They laughed together. Superman pulled at the chains around his hands and feet, but couldn't break free.

The cafeteria doors slid open. Four gorillas walked in, carrying their pistols. Flash squinted. He hadn't seen these ones before.

Neither, apparently, had Grodd. He looked skeptical, but the black gorilla walked up with a report for him.

And promptly electrocuted Grodd with a black device that looked like a boomerang.

_No,_ Flash thought, _Batarang!_

The four ex-Leaguers pulled off their gorilla costumes just as the real primates cam pouring in, ready for a fight. The Ultra-Humaite leapt up and started swinging around on the rafters, shooting his ray gun into the melee. Gangbuster went after him.

Superman saw Batman take out five of the gorillas within a few minutes. Across the room, Huntress had knocked out four more, and Wildcat was doing his share, as well.

And suddenly, the buzzing that had been annoying him all day stopped. He felt the power flow back into his body. Around him, the other heroes broke out of their chains and joined the fight.

It was over in another minute.


	7. The Point

Batman was perched on the spire of the Wayne Enterprise building, looking down on the city. He heard the faint rustle of a cape behind him and didn't need to turn around to see who it was.

"Just because myself and the rest of us rejoined the League does not mean you and I are on speaking terms."

"I came to apologize," Superman said, settling down next to him. Batman scowled. All the red and blue was going to give away his position.

"I'd had better be good. And quick. There's only a few hours of night left."

Superman stifled a sigh. "I'm sorry. We were wrong. I honestly convinced myself that it was the right thing to do, that I was helping you, and I know that's no excuse."

"I just..." he continued. "I value your friendship."

Batman looked at him. "That was a cheesy line, even for you, Kent."

"I'm serious," Clark said.

"I suppose it's nice to have a contact in Metropolis," Batman said, which was about the closest he would come to returning the sentiment.

"So I'm forgiven?" Superman gave him the big-eyes look.

"You're on probation," Batman took a pair of miniature binoculars out of his belt and zoomed in on a possible crime in the street below. "Though if it helps, you really aren't as meek as you all acted without your powers."

"Thanks, I think."

"I took a closer look at that device the primate duo used to stop your powers. It interfered with the electrical impulses in the brain of the Leaguers, effectively eliminating their ability to call on their powers."

"Okay…"

"I think it also influenced your personality slightly."

Superman chuckled softly.

"I don't see what's humorous about the situation," Batman readied a grappling chord and mentally counted how many batarangs he had. In the street, two teenagers prepared to break into an electronics shop.

Superman smiled. "We convinced ourselves that you'd all be safer outside the League, without having to combat supervillians. Then we get attacked, and you're the ones to save us."

Batman nodded.

Superman glanced down at the street and saw what he was preoccupied with. "Sometimes it seems like you always save us," he said quietly, and then jumped off the building to deal with Metropolis's crime.

Batman looked up to watch him go. "That's the point, isn't it?" he said, to no one but himself.

-The End-


End file.
